Parent Communication in Safeguarding

Why is Parent Communication and Collaboration Essential for Effective Safeguarding?

Parents play a vital role in protecting children, but without understanding the importance of collaboration and communication in safeguarding, key warning signs can be overlooked. Discover how you can work closely with them to make all the difference in keeping children safe.

Effective safeguarding is a complex and multifaceted task, requiring a collaborative approach from all school-based staff and other stakeholders, including governors, parents/carers and the children themselves.

In order for our systems to work, we need everyone to play their part and within this, parents and carers have a crucial role – which can, unfortunately, be understated when it comes to safeguarding.

So, how do we encourage these relationships and make sure parents are allies for schools in keeping children safe? This blog explores the importance of parent communication and collaboration in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children and gives some top tips for encouraging the strongest and most effective relationships.

A Parent’s Role: The Importance of Communication in Safeguarding and Parental Responsibility

Build Trust, Respect and Rapport

Open and honest communication between schools and parents is not only beneficial for academic progress but is also essential for safeguarding children. A strong foundation of trust, honesty and respect between schools and parents is crucial for effective communication. When parents feel valued, they are more likely to share concerns and information openly.

Schools and education settings need to ensure they establish clear and effective communication channels, such as newsletters, parent meetings, email updates or apps such as ClassDojo or Go 4 Schools. By having a variety of ways that parents and carers can get in touch with staff, you are more likely to encourage open, proactive and positive communication.

Once you’ve supported parents to communicate, active listening skills are crucial for this to be effective. By actively listening to their concerns and feedback, schools can demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding and child protection as well as taking quick and constructive action to keep children safe.

Share Information and Raise Awareness

Parents and carers know and understand a huge amount of information regarding the lives of their children and will know a lot that we, as professionals, are just not privy to. Schools and education settings should take the initiative to educate parents about safeguarding issues, including topics such as child abuse, neglect, and online safety.

By providing parents and carers with information and resources, schools can empower them to recognise signs of potential harm and take appropriate action. This can be done through:

  • Sharing of resources, newsletters and information.
  • Parent workshops and information sessions.
  • A clear, up-to-date and informative safeguarding section on your website.

When concerns are raised by parents, settings should respond promptly and professionally. A timely and appropriate response can reassure parents and demonstrate the school’s commitment to child safety. In cases where concerns are identified, schools should work collaboratively with parents to develop strategies to address the issue. This may involve seeking additional support from external agencies or implementing specific interventions.

Focus On Early Intervention and Prevention

Early help is a key collaborative tool for schools to use with parents. By implementing strategies quickly and effectively, support can be provided which can minimise risk and reduce the chances of a situation escalating further.

Working with parents, rather than ‘doing to’ them can also help them to feel empowered and can support them in finding their own solutions. Regular and open communication helps parents and carers feel you are working with them.

Working closely with parents and carers can help professionals gain a better understanding of a child’s lived experience, we can use our professional curiosity to ask the right questions and build the bigger picture as to what is going on in a child’s life at home, school, in the community and online.

As well as this, working with parents and carers can help with:

  • Identifying early warning signs: Parents often have a unique insight into their child’s behaviour and wellbeing. By sharing information about any changes in their child’s behaviour or mood, parents can help schools identify early warning signs of potential harm.
  • A united approach to intervention: Early help assessments are a beneficial tool to use with parents and carers to support them in identifying potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate them. This collaborative approach can help ensure a comprehensive and child-centred response.
  • Reporting of concerns and worries: Schools should encourage parents to report any concerns they may have about a child’s safety or wellbeing, then work collaboratively in addressing any situations with a united front.

How Services For Education Can Support You and Your Parents

We know just how busy schools and education settings are. So to support you, we have produced a bank of information guides for parents around a range of safeguarding topics. The Safest Start: A Parent Information Guide features a range of comprehensive, accessible and relevant safeguarding information for parents.

Written by our expert Education Advisers Lucie Welch and Emma Mudge, who are both ex-primary teachers, senior leaders and DSLs as well as parents themselves, we have created some excellent resources to be shared with all your parents and carers.

There are 12 editions, which can be shared directly through your newsletter, your communication apps or on your website, in any order you want. Each edition features up-to-date information, links, resources and tips and tricks for supporting parents and carers.

The information guide is aimed at parents of primary-aged children and covers several tricky topics in a friendly and informative way – without scaremongering or including worrying statistics.

We have created a free edition of The Safest Start, for you to see the quality, layout and accessibility of the information guides. You can then purchase all 12 editions for £99 and share them with parents as you want, to ensure your culture of safeguarding reaches all corners of your school community.

If you have any questions or would like further information about our services, staff training or safeguarding audits, please contact us at safeguarding@servicesforeducation.co.uk.

About the Author

Lucie WelchLucie Welch – Adviser, Services For Education

Lucie Welch has worked in the field of Primary Education for the last 15 years, holding the positions of Assistant Head of School, Designated Safeguarding Lead, Attendance Lead and Designated Teacher for Looked After Children. Through working across several local authorities and within multi-academy trusts, Lucie has garnered a passion for safeguarding and supporting children and young people to enable them to thrive.

At Services For Education, Lucie is an integral part of the Safeguarding team, sharing her expertise with schools, colleges, trusts, and other educational settings across the city of Birmingham and beyond. Dedicated to improving safeguarding practices in an actionable and impactful way, Lucie works closely with settings to provide bespoke training, supports with reflection on their own practices during Safeguarding audits and always strives to contribute to a better learning environment for all children. Through delivery of statutory training for DSLs and Safer Recruitment, Lucie works with colleagues in all age ranges and is a source of expertise within these areas.

Lucie also wears other important hats within the School Support Team. Not only is she dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of students through her role in safeguarding, but she also plays a key part in the PSHE/RSE and Health for Life teams. Additionally, Lucie partners with the Best Practice Network to deliver the Early Career Framework, supporting new teachers in their professional development.

NEED SAFEGUARDING SUPPORT AT YOUR SCHOOL?

Our expert advisers can provide in-school visits to deliver sessions on any specific safeguarding issues that are relevant to your setting. We also offer consultancy and a detailed safeguarding audit. We will work with you to understand your exact requirements.

Get in touch with us today if you’d like to discuss bespoke Safeguarding training for your school.

find out more

For further support and information, SFE can offer bespoke consultancy packages of support for DSLs to look at processes and procedures. In addition, our team of experts can complete an audit of the current safeguarding status of your school.   

Browse our website for further information www.servicesforeducation.co.uk or email safeguarding@servicesforeducation.co.uk  

 

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